"Each of its major stakeholders – operators, OEMS and 3PLs – have so much more value to extract from it as more global consumers choose to sell or buy used equipment if they trust in the process of used device collection and redistribution.”

There are also many illegitimate mobile retail organisations that buy and sell used devices without following any data security guidelines.

The survey found that 36% of consumers admitted they would prefer to sell their devices on platforms such as eBay and Amazon, rather than through mobile operators or specialist online trading sites.

These often-illegitimate, ungoverned practices undermine trust in the secondary device market and must be properly regulated to preserve and maintain consumer confidence, Blancco states.

Ernst adds that there needs to be a common, regulated, and mandated rulebook for smartphone processing, or else the ecosystem is vulnerable to abuse and malicious attacks.

"The current ecosystem is made up of multiple stakeholders that collect devices from various touchpoints and redistribute them to many other parties.

“Since the speed of device processing is the only critical success factor, and as more devices flood the market, the chances of data breaches or issues related to data misuse will become increasingly likely. The secondary device market remains an amazingly lucrative and exciting opportunity for everyone, but only if it retains full consumer confidence built on trust and data integrity."

The majority (59%) of survey respondents also believe there should be stronger data controls in order to prevent breaches of their personal information.